Despite a blip on the radar caused by scrap prices laying flat this month, along with imported pipe activity to the US remaining weak, foreign pipe mills continue their upward pricing trend to the US. With the US domestic pipe markets being fairly non-competitive, foreign mills have been able to continue increasing prices to the US and have not indicated any willingness to slow down.
With the energy pipe market continuing to be the hottest pipe commodity, API J55 electric resistance welded (ERW) oil country tubular goods (OCTG) offers to the US out of Korea remain the most competitive. In fact, some Korean standard pipe mills have been increasing the capabilities to produce OCTG over the past several months. Since our last report three weeks ago, most Korean spot offers have increased by approximately $3.00 cwt. ($44/mt or $40/nt) and can currently be found in the approximate range of about $55.00 cwt. to $56.00 cwt. ($1,213/mt to $1,235/mt or $1,100/nt to $1,120/nt) duty-paid, FOB loaded truck in US Gulf ports. The current range reflects an increase of approximately $5.00 cwt. ($110/mt or $100/nt) in the past month. It will be difficult to find deals below the above mentioned range, and Korean mills are expected to continue increasing prices into May. To that same effect, it is interesting to note that according to the latest report by Baker Hughes, the number of total active US rig counts for week ending April 23 was 1,482, representing a decrease of nine from the previous week, the largest weekly decrease since mid-2009. This latest decrease in rig counts isn't cause for concern for most distributors at this point, although more attention will be paid to the rig counts especially over the next couple weeks to see if a new trend is developing.
Looking at the standard pipe market, most imported electric resistance welded (ERW) black plain end (BPE) A53 Grade A standard pipe offers have increased by an average of $2.00 cwt. ($44/mt or $40/nt) since our last report. Most Turkish BPE standard pipe offers can now be found ranging from approximately $47.00 cwt. to $48.00 cwt. ($1,036/mt to $1,058/mt or $940/nt to $960/nt) duty-paid, FOB loaded truck in US Gulf ports, while Korean offers are trending a little higher at around $48.00 cwt. to $49.00 cwt. ($1,058/mt to $1,080/mt or $960/nt to $980/nt) duty-paid, FOB loaded truck in US Gulf ports. Taiwanese ERW BPE Grade B standard pipe offers are also mostly being seen at approximately $48.00 cwt. to $49.00 cwt. ($1,058/mt to $1,080/mt or $960/nt to $980/nt) duty-paid, FOB loaded truck in US Gulf ports.
Indian mills have also increased BPE standard pipe offers approximately $2.00 cwt. ($44/mt or $40/nt) over the past couple weeks, with spot pricing now seen at about $47.00 cwt. to $48.00 cwt. ($1,036/mt to $1,058/mt or $940/nt to $960/nt) duty-paid, FOB loaded truck in US Gulf ports; however, Indian imports have garnered little interest in their BPE products due to market conditions and what some traders refer to as "quality issues." Nevertheless, standard galvanized plain end (GPE) offers remain Indian mills' flagship product and have increased most offers on them by an average of $3.00 cwt. ($66/mt or $60/nt) since last report to around $55.00 cwt. to $56.00 cwt. ($1,213/mt to $1,235/mt or $1,100/nt to $1,120/nt) duty-paid, FOB loaded truck in US Gulf ports. While prices continue increasing on almost a weekly basis, most traders expect the uptick to continue through the second quarter.